Monthly Archives: March 2017

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You must spend money to make money! While Plautus’ quote may not always be true, it often is in the investment world. And one of those expenses is your financial professional. The final part in this five-part series of Increasing Investor Savvy leaves one last question to ask yourself:

Previously, in the fourth part of this Improving Investor Savvy series, we discussed knowing the basics of investing. It was not intended to be an exhaustive list, but one important basic was not mentioned: Diversification. Diversification is a portfolio strategy that many employ in order to mitigate potential losses. Imagine investing all of your money into the stocks of Company X. Unfortunately, the X market experiences a horrible year and now your whole investment is worth 5% of what you originally invested. It’s a devastating loss.

Unfortunately, while no one wants to think about loss, everyone should plan for it and diversification is one way. Therefore, the fourth question from FINRA’s July 2015 National Financial Capability Study in this five-part series is obvious:

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During my time in the Health Law Partnership (HeLP) Legal Services Clinic, I have mainly worked on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) cases for children. For a child to qualify for SSI benefits, the family must have limited income and resources. The child also has to meet certain criteria set out by the Social Security Administration (SSA) demonstrating marked and severe functional limitations. If it is determined that the child qualifies for SSI benefits, their case will routinely be evaluated to determine whether the benefits should continue.

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You may be a newbie to investing or have been investing for years. Either way you probably feel that you know the basics to investing and all the advanced concepts are for your financial professional to handle. However, when FINRA conducted a basic investor literacy quiz most people did not score higher than 50 percent. Part III of the Improving Investor Savvy series moves on to its third question from FINRA’s July 2015 National Financial Capability Study.

Would you give your money to a stranger for safekeeping? Probably not, at least not without figuring out how trustworthy they are. So why would you do the same with your broker or financial professional? While they might owe you a fiduciary duty, a fancy office and a company name does not negate the fact that they are still a stranger. Part II of Improving Investor Savvy adds a second question from FINRA’s July 2015 National Financial Capability Study you should ask in order to increase your investment knowledge and improve your investment behavior.

Investor Advocacy Clinic Director and Assistant Clinical Professor Nicole G. Iannarone, along with Professor Benjamin P. Edwards, currently at the Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law and joining the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law this fall, recently commented on the Department of Labor’s recent proposal to delay implementation of the fiduciary rule. Their comment, available in full here, opposed the proposed sixty day delay for three reasons. First, they argued that the proposal would undercut years of study and work that created a rule that will help investors save for their future. Second, they noted that the financial services industry is prepared to implement the rule now and a sixty day delay will cost retirement investors $147 million in just one year. Finally, Iannarone and Edwards argued that the rule should be implemented as planned to provide the necessary data to undertake the examination of the fiduciary rule as ordered by President Trump in his February 3, 2017 memorandum. Professors Iannarone and Edwards continue to research the substantive questions raised in the President’s memorandum and plan to file a comment letter answering those questions before the April 17, 2017 deadline.

Money Talks, but many people don’t question themselves about their own investments. This five-part series, FINRA’s July 2015 National Financial Capability Study, will outline five questions that every investor should ask themselves in order to increase their investment knowledge and improve their investment behavior.